i'm a winner

jValX wins www.planet-source-code.com's August 2004 JavaScript contest!

click here to see it on their site

new brakes

new brakes for the car! the front disc rotors have been vibrating for some time due to warping, and resurfacing them doesn't help since they warp again in a few months (i've had it done twice already, $100 each time!), so i replaced them with cross-drilled rotors from www.stillen.com. easy enough to do yourself, and only costs about $250.00 for rotors and pads, including shipping. i should be getting commission from them... ;-)

slow weekend

no bathroom progress this weekend, even though all we need to do is paint the door & trim - i spent most of the weekend writing software. we've also been babysitting two kittens since Friday. they'll stay until Tuesday so i should be able to post some pictures of them in the gallery.

jValX

added jValX to the library...now it's XHTML compliant!

bathroom almost done

installed the faucet on the pedestal sink...not much left to do: paint the door, install the baseboard and chair rail, and hang the mirror!

progress

more progress: grouted the floor and tub surround on Saturday (see pics), then installed the new toilet and sink Sunday. still need to hook up the supply lines to the faucet, and (because i'm a genius) forgot to put the trim rings (escutcheons to be precise) behind the supply valves. i will have the correct installation sequence tattooed on my forearm as soon as time permits.

we got up early!

no moes, but Saturday we did try out the new Chipotle restaurant in town... muy bueno (my apologies to those of you that actually speak spanish - i got my translation from babelfish :-) )

tiling

tiled most of the downstairs bathroom floor last night (Saturday) and finished it this morning...debating whether or not to post pics of it ungrouted...probably will anyway since it might be a few more days before we get around to grouting.

fun with toilets

finished the last of the shower surround tile!

well, as should be expected, something came up preventing me from tiling the floor: the old toilet flange is bent and rusted and needs to be replaced. sounds easy enough? well, it's not the screw-on type - it's cemented on. which means i have to cut it out from inside the soil stack and put a new flange (with extension) on to replace it. discovered this at 6pm as i'm cleaning in preparation for laying tile...argh!

got to join google's gmail today...

getting things done

holy progress, batman! got up early (10-ish)... we finished tiling all but the bottom two rows of the right wall, and also installed the left accent tile. put in the new light fixture, painted the ceiling and wainscoting, installed new light switches and a GFCI outlet.

no moes...

we ought to be able to tile the floor tomorrow!

busy slacking

went to jacksonville friday morning with jules for some appointments, then friday evening we met some friends in deland. stayed at a nice little b&b called the deland artisan inn. the inn's restaurant is excellent!

today we finished tiling the left wall, so there's only 0.5 walls left to go! kind of slacked off this weekend since next week is finals.

a new door

installed the door today, but still have to prime and paint it. (in hindsight I recommend painting, THEN installing) started tiling around the left accent tile, and got half the right wall done too.

thinkin' about moe's for dinner...

more tile and paint

finished tiling the big wall and installed the accent tile! looks great, and will look even better when it's all grouted. we also painted the upper walls blue.

seeing spots

primed the bathroom walls and ceiling...lesson learned: wear a spray sock so your face and hair aren't coated in paint splatter! now i'll look like a spray-painted statue for a week.

moe tiling

had the day off from work today, so what better way to spend it than breaking my back tiling the bathroom! didn't get as much done as i thought i might, but that's because the pretty pictures in the "how-to-tile" book camouflage the expertise needed to finish the task in a timely manner. the wet saw's not hard to use, but making the angled pieces fit correctly is very much trial and error. the good news is there's only 2 more accent tiles after this one! ok, enough whining...it sure is going to look great when we finish!

ate at moes...

play time

my band nice guy eddie is playing a friend's wedding in bradenton this weekend, so no more "homework" 'till next weekend... :-(

wainscoting and tile

finished installing the wainscoting...started in on tiling the tub surround. got half of the big wall done. we've never tiled a vertical surface before, and it's actually not that difficult but it is tedious. one caveat: make sure your shim strip is fully in place and level if you start from the bottom!

and guess what? no moe's today! guess that means we were actually busy working?!

be sure to check out the new pics here

cement board

taped and mortared the cement board joints last night...apparently burned out my corded drill mixing the mortar, 'cause it didn't work today when i tried to use it...bummer!

put up half the beadboard wainscoting today. went to moe's. (that's a given by now)

will post some pics tomorrow after we finish the wainscoting and begin tiling.

what a grind

today's task was to put a second coat of "stucco" on the walls, install the cement backer board, and perhaps start tiling.

i had to shave 1/2" off the bottom of one board and lacked the tools, so i got a 4-1/2" right angle grinder and a 4" diamond masonry blade...no problem, since the spindle diameters are the same, right? wrong - made a second trip to the depot to find a washer or a different blade, but it turns out that this particular grinder (ryobi ag451k) won't tighten down past ~3/16" thickness, and all of the cutoff blades are 1/8" thick. must return it now...

time wasted: 1.5 hours

i ended up just nibbling that 5' x 1/2" piece off with pliers.

almost ready for tile

slow day...got going late, around noon, bought our field tiles for the tub surround and ordered three cool 12" X 12" mosaic tiles as accents for the surround. applied the stucco finish to the drywall that will remain exposed. i was going to install the cement board, but found that our circular saw doesn't accept the standard 4" masonry cutter i was going to use on the cement board...guess we'll add a right angle grinder to our tool cache tomorrow for this task.

oh yeah, ate at moe's again

slow start

went to bed last night with the intentions of starting early on the bathroom...hah! we rolled out of bed at 10:00, had some coffee, went to moe's, then started working. so what? that's the beauty of having two bathrooms. finished hanging the drywall, and taped/mudded the seams. ready for cement board installation now!

Herlong Mansion

went to Micanopy today with Jules to check out the Herlong Mansion as a possible site to have our wedding. looks quite nice! makes me want to build a home like it...just as soon as i find that $250K i misplaced the other day. after that, we started on the bathroom again. got the ceiling drywall and half of the walls hung today.

coming along

due to prior engagements, we got going around 4pm or so Saturday. managed to install the new R-13 insulation, hang a rafter to support the new ceiling, and put up the vapor barrier for the tub surround. i used adhesive caulk instead of the recommended roofing tar to secure the vapor barrier to the tub flange, so we'll see soon if it dries properly...

smoke and mirrors

so...this whole web log thing is going to take any perceived magnificence out of our renovation work, as you go from seeing just "before" and "after" to hearing me whine about every step of the project and expose how little we accomplish each day!

having said that, we managed to install the barrier between the units and seal it all off with expanding foam. (pictures in the downstairs bath gallery) pretty cool stuff, that foam is! we're very pleased that the bathroom only smells of lumber now. i also put in new studs and cross members to support the drywall/cement board around the tub, and a cross member to anchor the pedestal sink. the whining part: we didn't get going until noon today, it took till 7pm, and we still didn't get any drywall up!

getting started

recap of today...
<fantasy_land>
get to home depot early (9ish), load up on drywall and cement board, install the Stink Barrier^TM and put the drywall up in the bathroom, maybe even the cement board. (for those of you that can't read my mind, the Stink Barrier keeps the offensive stench from the sludge beneath the adjoining unit's tub from invading our airspace - i guess it's good news that it's not actually our unit that smells?!)
</fantasy_land>

<reality>
got to home depot around noon, spent 3.5 (!) hours getting everything...hey, at least we have the materials now! we'll just put the actual labor off until Sunday. photos to follow soon...
</reality>

hello world

my first blog :)
welcome to the digital age, jeff